now, as we all know, the words 'climate change' are being thrown around a lot recently, but is it actually happening (as in, the enhanced greenhouse effect i.e. increase of average global temperature on such a scale as to cause great detriment to humanity)?
on one side we have those such as Al Gore (and his documentary, 'an inconvenient truth' [AIT])
the other, we have climate skeptics, and to rebut An Inconvenient Truth, http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monck ... rrors.html
now, i feel that it is necessary to point out many of the 'flaws' in the given website. many of the graphs do not actually contradict what is being said in AIT, but rather show only part of the picture.
for example, this graph http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/image ... ors/12.gif labelled "number of severe tornadoes increasing" yet in the paragraph concerning it, "Gore says that 2004 set an all-time record for tornadoes in the US." absolutely nothing to do with 'severe tornadoes' at all. not only this, but if 'severity' is being measured by casualties caused, then should we not also factor things such as early warning systems that enable people to know about these things first? and also the bodies such as the Red Cross being able to access affected areas faster and provide relief?
i just have to put the next part in, as it is quite funny, but slightly unrelated:
"he does not understand the elementary physics of radiative transfer."
oooh thats good. im so glad the radiative transfer on energy is so elementary.
heat transfer is a complex thing to actually understand properly, especially on a scale such as the sun warming the earth. its not as simple as heat just travelling from A to B, it actually has to be carried as kinetic energy on photons from the sun, then transformed into heat energy as the photons interact with the atmosphere, which in turn interacts with the oceans. (and that is the 'simple' explanation)
anyway, back on topic
"However, the glacial melt began in the 1820s, long before humankind could have had any effect" (concerning the melting of glaciers around the world)
humankind has been using hydrocarbon fuels since before 1850, and besides this, the glaciers are on a "180 year trend" of melting?
so that very soon, they will stop melting, and grow back again? cos its been 180 years since its started...
leaving the article, lets examine some of the recent climate occurrences in Australia over the last 50 years or so
1) the drought - im sure everyone in australia will know of it, it was huge. over 98% of the state of NSW was in drought (yes there is poor water management here). this was caused by a prolonged El Nino (which lasted almost twice as long as it should have) creating above average rainfall in South America, and dangerously low rainfall in NSW. the link between El Nino and global warming is very clear, and its not one of cause and effect, but rather of correlation. the two happen together, but neither is a cause of the other
2) an increase in temperatures - recorded temperatures over the whole of australia have been increasing (in a general trend), especially in recent years. this may or may not be related to 'global warming'/CO2 emissions
3) the great barrier reef - we all know it, and we all know its been diminishing recently. this is because of crown-of-thorns starfish, of which population numbers have been increasing in the area due to the increase in average water temperature, and "The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority considers the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef to be climate change"
climate change is happening, few people will disagree with me there
the cause of it, and its effects are what is in debate.
there is no doubt CO2 DOES have an effect on global temperatures, as does deforestation



You can do better than that


